Kurduvadi

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Kurduvadi | type = city | latd = 18.08 | longd = 75.43
locator_position = right | state_name = Maharashtra
district = Solapur
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altitude = 502
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 22,773| population_density =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone =
postal_code =
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sex_ratio =
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Kurduvadi or Kurudwadi is a small town in Solapur district in Maharashtra state of India. It is known mainly for the railway junction connecting two different rail gauge tracks.

Geography

Kurduvadi is located at coord|18.08|N|75.43|E| [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/16/Kurduvadi.html Falling Rain Map] ] . It has an average elevation of 502 metres (1646 feet).

Kurduwadi is known mainly for the narrow gauge railway workshop and railway junction on Central Railway of Indian Railways. A branch railway line takes off from Kuruwadi connecting Osmanabad and Latur towards East and Pandharpur and Miraj towards South-West. The branch line called Barshi Light Railway was narrow gauge until 2008. Now it has been converted to broad gauge. The new broad gauge track made a detour to connect Osmanabad which was not connected by railway line. The converted broad gauge track from Latur to Osmanabad was commissioned in September 2007 and the converted broad gauge track from Osmanabad to Kurduvadi is likely to be commissioned in the second half of 2008.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Kurduvadi had a population of 22,773. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Kurduvadi has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 67%. In Kurduvadi, 13% of the population was under 6 years of age.

Transport

Kurduvadi is served by a broad gauge railway between Pune and Ahmednagar towards Mumbai and Solapur and Bijapur in the other direction. It is also connected to Miraj by a narrow gauge railway which is being converted to broad gauge under Project Unigauge. The converted broad gauge track from Kurduvadi to Pandharpur (52 km) was commissioned in 2001 but the narrow gauge track from Pandharpur to Miraj is not likely to be commissioned before 2010 as it has been assigned low priority.

This defeats the very purpose of converting Latur-Kurduvadi-Pandharpur-Miraj narrow gauge track to broad gauge, which was for transportation of coal. There is very little passenger traffic on the route and the route will continue to incur losses until the track is converted until Miraj junction and starts carrying coal traffic.

References